The Importance Of The American Diet

Through out this semester we have been given different concepts and theories to promote better health and diet regulations. We have received historical evidence about the foods we consume and encouraging information to promote the importance of preparation and how it affects our wellbeing. Food preparation and the way it is served has quickly transitioned from slow farm cooking, to industrialized fast food.
Originally, food was valued amongst many families and cultures across the globe. It was prepared and grown by hand in a timely matter, as many families had to farm and grow their own crops. Women cooked the foods that were brought in from the farm and often spent a good amount of time preparing everything from scratch. Foods in this time …show more content…
The American diet usually consists of “too much protein, too little greens, and not enough home cooked meals” (Bittman, What’s Wrong with the Way We Eat, Video). In one of the Ted Talks video we watched this semester featuring Mark Bittman, he expressed a lot about how the current American diet has completely turned into a destructing problem for both the human health and the environment around it. The production of fast food consists of chemically induced items that are loaded with too much calories and can soon lead to fatal diseases. “Drive thru’s are killing more people than drive bys” (Finlay, Guerrilla Gardening, video). This quote is astonishingly accurate as I heard it in one of the videos this semester. Finlay expresses in his video that promotes home gardening, that fast food is the leading factor to health problems in America. It is shocking that many people are unaware of the consequences of eating processed fast foods. People who battle with obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems can all trace their issues to bad eating habits. The awareness of food and how it affects our wellbeing is extremely important to advocate, as it can make a difference for many. If more people where educated on the foods they eat, a revolt against bad eating …show more content…
We have learned in this course that it is physically harming the things that make up our environment and the living things in it. Since we have evolved vastly in food production since the beginning of slow cooking, it is nearly impossible to eliminate fast food. However, there are alternative to the horrible eating habits that have been embedded into our society. In the Ted Talks video by Graham Hill, he convinces viewers to consider being a weekly vegetarian. When I first saw this I thought it was a little humorous. But Hill has a great point, doing this can help us consume more vegetables and less meat without giving up the foods we love. It provides an obtainable diet plan that can help stop contribution to fast foods, yet allow us to obtain some in moderations (Hill, Why I’m a Weekly Vegetarian, video). Another alternative to stray from unhealthy habits was shown in “Sustainable Seafood” by Barton Seaver. He also suggests that even though eating fish is healthier than meats such as chicken and beef, vegetables are a healthier alternative. He suggests that we do smaller proportions of our meats and bigger plates of vegetables to compensate our need to have a full plate. This will cause healthier meals and a start towards limiting meat